A number of media outlets related to crypto business are reporting that James Havells, who has been searching for a lost hard drive with a crypto wallet worth 8,000 Bitcoin (currently worth about $950 million) for 12 years, has officially ended his search.
A number of media outlets related to crypto business are reporting that James Havells, who has been searching for a lost hard drive with a crypto wallet worth 8,000 Bitcoin (currently worth about $950 million) for 12 years, has officially ended his search.
Havells first mined bitcoin in 2009 and stored his private keys on a hard drive that he later threw away, not realizing its long-term value. He lost his crypto wallet in 2013 when he accidentally put the hard drive with a bunch of bitcoins in it in a black garbage bag while cleaning his office. His partner thought it was a garbage bag and took it to a landfill, where it probably still is.
James Havells discovered the drive in a landfill in Newport and repeatedly asked Newport City Council to dig up his hard drive, but was refused. In 2024, he launched legal action against the city council, but he was also unsuccessful.
In 2025, it was reported that he even offered officials £50 million to let him find the discarded disc.
Despite Havells' social media silence since May 2025, crypto media outlets are reporting that after 12 years of searching, the IT guy is «officially» calling it quits. James Havells has reportedly finally come to terms with his loss and said he was searching for reasons of principle and financial gain.
«I’m not giving up,» he said, possibly hinting at a new project — a cryptocurrency inspired by his lost fortune.
Experts predict that by 2030, 8,000 BTC lying around in a landfill could be worth about $8 billion.
